Match-play version basketball process

ABSTRACT

The Match-Play-Version Basketball Process is a method of wagering on conventional basketball games, which is employed while observing conventional basketball games via television or in person at an arena. The product of the Process is called a “match” to distinguish it from the actual game, for wagering purposes only. It has no official standing. The process consists of dividing the official time limit into sixteen consecutive segments of equal duration, called “rounds,” and keeping score accordingly, by awarding one point to the team that scores the most points in each round. The winner of the most rounds wins the match. All wagers are based entirely and exclusively on the rounds; thus the total score of the game is irrelevant to the ad hoc match that it breeds.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to the Gaming Industry in general, and towagering on basketball games in particular. It provides the gamingindustry with six new ways to bet on basketball games.

2. Description of Related Art

The practice of betting on the outcome, i.e., final score, of basketballgames, is almost as old as the game itself, and, more recently, someCasinos have experimented with some contrived bets. Such bet are baseddirectly on the score of the game. This invention creates wagers basedon the score of artificial “matches” that are drawn from the game, andheretofore did not exist. The closest comparable art would be thepractice of betting on match-play golf games.

I have long enjoyed watching the Ryder Cup, The Presidents Cup and othermatch-play golf events on television, while I find the majority ofstroke-play events somewhat tedious. I have also never cared forwatching basketball games on television for much the same reason. Sometime ago I was struck by the whimsical thought that it was too bad thatbasketball games cannot be somehow set up as matches, a lá golf. Thatnotion resurfaced occasionally until one day it occurred to me thatbasketball could, indeed, create its equivalent of golf's eighteen-holesby simply dividing its traditional time-limit into sixteen equalsegments, called rounds, to borrow a boxing term. Thus the match-playbasketball concept was born. It soon occurred to me that while theconcept may never be considered seriously as an alternative to thecentury-old conventional time-limit game, it could be very useful as anad hoc gaming device—a fringe benefit, as it were.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is a process for creating “matches” from conventionalbasketball games by pretending that the official game time is dividedinto sixteen consecutive “rounds” of equal duration, for the expresspurpose of making wagers. All wagers are based on the number of pointsscored by each team in each round.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Not Applicable

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Heretofore, wagering on basketball games consisted almost exclusively ofthe age-old, conventional, win-or-lose bets on the final score. Thisinvention creates the opportunities to make a variety of new wagers andthus increases the opportunities for legal gaming establishments to gainnew revenue, not to mention the increased pleasure it brings to thosewho enjoy wagering on basketball games.

The process consists of dividing a conventional basketball game'sofficial time limit into sixteen consecutive rounds of equal duration,and keeping score accordingly, All wagers are based on the rounds,similar to match-play golf games in which bets are based on the eighteenholes.

The process is conducted as follows:

(1) At the end of each round, by simple arithmetic, it is determined howmany points each team has scored during that round. That is, a team'sscore for a round is an amount equal to the difference between its totalscore at the end of the round minus its total score at the beginning ofthe round. These numbers may be recorded on a scorecard.

(2) The team that scores the most points in a round is declared winnerof that round.

(3) The team that wins the most rounds is declared winner of the match.The match is ended when one team's lead is greater than the numberrounds remaining to be played, i.e., when it becomes impossible for oneof the teams to gain at least a tie in the match.

The invention creates these six new wagers:

1. WINNER. The betttor predicts which team will win the match. In theevent of a tied match, the house must refund to the customer a sum equalto the amount of his bet.

2. REVERSAL. The bettor predicts that the loser of the game will be thewinner of the match.

3. DURATION. The match is ended as soon as it becomes impossible for oneof the participants to gain at least a tie, while the actual gamecontinues, of course. Thus, the duration bet requires the bettor topredict the number of rounds that will be completed in the match, fromthe maximum of sixteen rounds to the minimum of nine rounds.

4. SKINS. (A) No carry-overs: The bettor backs one of the teamsthroughout the match, and bets a predetermined amount of money on histeam for each round. Halved (tied) rounds do not count. (B) Withcarry-overs: Same as (A) above except that bets on halved (tied) roundsare added to the bet on the next round. (C) Press: If the bettor fallsthree or more rounds behind, he may demand a second bet in the sameamount as the main bet, on the next round. The house may not refuse thebet. All sixteen rounds are counted even though the match may end infewer.

5. NASSAU. The bettor backs the same team for three equal bets: (1) Thefirst eight rounds, (2) The second eight rounds and (3) All sixteenrounds. (See the sample scorecard below.) PRESS: If the bettor loses thebet on the first eight, he may demand a second bet in the same amount asthe main bet, on the second eight. The house may not refuse. All sixteenrounds are counted even though the match may end in fewer.

6. PARLAY. The bettor bets that a designated team will win a specificset of rounds, consecutive or scattered, with accumulated winnings aftereach round bet on the next round. Halved rounds are treated as losses.Match-Play Version Basketball Professional Scorecard © Event: RegularSeason Game Date: Feb. 10, 2005 Place: Seattle, WA TEAM A SCORE TEAM BSCORE MATCH WINNER RATIO Sacramento Kings 107 Seattle Sonics 115 Seattle2/0 3-Minute Mark 9:00 6:00 3:00 0:00 9:00 6:00 3:00 0:00 9:00 6:00 3:000:00 9:00 6:00 3:00 0:00 Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16Game A Sac. 9 13 19 28 32 37 45 52 63 68 74 81 88 96 103 107 B Seat. 611 14 26 36 42 46 54 54 67 73 77 88 96 102 115 Match A Sac. 9 4 6 9 4 58 7 11 5 6 7 7 8 7 4 B Seat. 6 5 3 12 10 6 4 8 0 13 6 4 11 8 6 13 A Sac.1 0 1 0 B Seat. 0 0 1 2 1 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 1 2

Above is a sample of the form for recording an actual game score and thematch-play score at the same time. It is the scorecard for the SeattleSonics-Sacramento Kings game on Feb. 10, 2005. It shows that in thematch the Sonics never held more than a two-round lead, and, adopting agolfing term, they were dormie after fifteen rounds. That is, they wereone round ahead with one round to play, so the worst they could havedone was to gain a tie in the match. Since Match-Play Version basketballis entirely a gaming industry device, unrecognized by organizedbasketball, ties go unresolved.

1. The petitioner claims patent protection equivalent to copyrightprotection afforded inventors of other forms of intellectual property,e.g., authors and composers.
 2. The petitioner claims the right toprevent the use of The Match-Play Version Basketball Process forcommercial gaming purposes by unauthorized persons or organizations. 3.The petitioner claims the right to grant licenses for use of the processto other persons or organizations for legal gaming activities.
 4. Thepetitioner claims the right to charge reasonable fees for such licenses.5. The petitioner claims the right to redress from unauthorizedcommercial users of the process.